Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Ozone Layer

"The ozone layer" refers to the ozone within stratosphere, where over 90% of the earth's ozone resides. Ozone is an irritating, corrosive, colorless gas with a smell something like burning electrical wiring. In fact, ozone is easily produced by any high-voltage electrical arc (spark plugs, Van de Graaff generators, Tesla coils, arc welders). Each molecule of ozone has three oxygen atoms and is produced when oxygen molecules (O2) are broken up by energetic electrons or high energy radiation.